This past week EIE board Polish Airline and flew from Israel
to Warsaw Poland. In Poland we travelled around to different city’s to get a
better understanding of what Jewish life was like in Poland before World War 2
and what took place during World War 2. We had the opportunity to visit three concentration
camps, as well as Ghetto walls, and experiencing Jewish life in Poland today.
This trip was definitely an eye opening experience. I learnt a lot about the
history of the Jewish people as well I learnt a lot about myself. All my life I have heard the number 6,000,000
but that number is just a statistic; a number is nothing until you realize what
you are counting. Smiles, friends, family’s. Lives.
Sunday March 23 2014
This morning we
woke up at 1:15. We loaded the buses by 2:00 A.M to head to Ben Gurion airport
in Tel Aviv. It was so cool being at the airport again with the EIE group. So
much had changed in just two short months. When we met at JFK back at the end
of January we were awkward and scared. But now we are all best friends,
laughing and being very loud!
Today we begin our
next adventure on EIE. We are all flying to Poland to learn more about the
Holocaust and understand more about Jewish history. On the flight I sat in the middle seat
between Shelly Peskin and Rayna Petovsky. I have so many different emotions. I
am excited because Poland is another place I have the opportunity to travel to
and explore but also nervous because I physically and emotionally don’t know
what to expect and how I will react to what I see. I am terrified for the
unknown.
After a 4 hour
flight, we landed in Warsaw at 10:00 A.M. We gathered all of our luggage and
loaded the buses. Coming into this trip I tried to look at Poland as a place
where my family once lived. There must have been good aspects because it used
to be filled with a Jewish community! But today Poland looks like all the
colour has been drained from it. Everything is pale, white, and black, like
someone came and stole all the life out of these communities.
Our first stop was
to the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw.
The cemetery
This cemetery was around before WW2 and is
still active today. There is no order to
this cemetery. All of the headstones move with the Earth, therefore they are
overlapping. In some areas of the cemetery there are as many as 14 layers of
people buried. My teacher handed out tracing paper and a pastel so that
everyone in my class could all trace over one of the headstones and
metaphorically bring that person with us back to Israel because they never had
the chance.
After the cemetery
we went for lunch at a mall.
After lunch we went
to the area that would have been the Warsaw Ghetto. In WW2 most of Poland was destroyed and today
almost all of it has been rebuilt. There are two walls still standing from the
Warsaw Ghetto. As I approached the walls
I was disgusted.
Walking up to the Ghetto wall
A whole community has been built around the remaining Ghetto
wall. People’s homes are right next door to the Ghetto walls. It looks like
when they rebuilt this community they rebuilt it around this wall, not because
they wanted to but because they were forced to. A lady who’s apartment is
kiddie corner to the Ghetto wall opened her window. She hid her face behind a
window shade, stuck her hand out of the window and began yelling at us in
Polish to go away! I was shocked how she could live right next to the Ghetto
walls, with our history in her backyard and have the guts to yell at us to
leave. But of course, we stayed.
The Warsaw Ghetto wall
I walked up to the wall and touched it. I got
shivers. The idea of 6,00,00 ran though my head starting to become more clear.
I always believed walls could talk, and was this one screaming. To think about
what it has witnessed. These two walls are the only remaining structures of
what used to be here. They hold so much history, memories, and emotions.
After the Ghetto
walls we continued to explore the neighborhood learning about different people,
most of which lived inside the Ghetto.
Warsaw has been 100% rebuilt since WW2. All that remains from the Jewish
community that used to live here are some monuments that the Polish kids of
today were playing on.
This week we talked
a lot about when is it okay to move on and live your life again. I think in
order to move on you must accept the past and teach the history instead of
pretending like it did not happen. In Warsaw I personally don’t believe they
made a good enough effort to preserve what was left of the Jewish Community.
After a long day we went for dinner and back to the hotel for bed.
Monday March 24, 2014
This morning we woke up at 6:20, packed up our suitcases and
were out of the hotel by 8:00. We drove three hours to a town called Tikochin.
On the bus ride we watched Fiddler on the Roof to get a good understanding of
what life in Tikochin used to be like. The life of a Jewish shtettel. When we
arrived, nothing about the place said “Jewish”.
The only thing I saw that was Jewish
The center of the town is a
church. But before WW2 this was a huge Jewish community. We learned about what
spirit this town used to have. After lunch we did a service in the only rebuilt
temple of Tikochin. There are zero Jews living in Tikochin now but this temple
is used as a museum or for groups like us to gather. We sang our hearts out.
Singing and dancing to bring the spirit back into this town.
We then loaded the
buses to head to a forest. We drove there in silence. We were going to the
forest where the town of Tikochin had their belongings striped from them. Their
families were separated, and their community shot dead in front of their very
eyes. All that is left there today are three gated off rectangles which are
mass graves holding the people of Tikochin. We heard the story of a women from
Tikochin. First her community was forced to leave their homes and get onto
trains. She was not able to fit on the train and had to run behind it carrying
a child in her hands. When she got to the forest she witnessed her whole
community die in the matter of moments, her mother, father, grandparents, and
sisters. All were shot down and put into the pit, that I am currently standing
next to. She was shot as well, but had the strength to pull herself out from
beneath the dead and still alive bodies. As she climbed out people would pull
her down or bite her legs all suffering from the pain. When she was able to get
out, all that was left were the dead bodies from her community of
Tikochin. On this trip to Poland we
talked a lot about life and death. In the morning we learned about and saw the
beautiful town of Tikochin, full of song, smiles, and community. Then in the afternoon
we saw how in a matter of moments they were all killed, Part of that 6,000,00,
for the solid reason that they were Jewish. When learning about the Holocaust
in the past we always focused on the Ghettos and camps, but to hear and visit
the sights where such tragedy took place is unsettling.
All the classes met
up again and had a small service. One of my teachers found a note left there by
another visitor. It was simply a list of names. As a community we listed these
names in our mourners kadish. Very proudly we all joined together and sang
Hatikvah! Then EIE got to do something not a lot of people before us were able
to do. We turned around and walked out. I linked arms with Noa and Talia.
We loaded the buses
and had a five hour bus ride to Lublin where we are having dinner and staying
for the night.
Tuesday March 25, 2014
This morning wake up was at 6:30A.M. First we went to the
old town of Lublin where we had free time to walk around. Unfortunately most of
the stores were still closed. Next we went to what used to be the Jewish
Yeshiva prior to WW2. The building has been redone but we did some torah study
to get the history back into the building.
EIE in the Yashiva
Today we went to
Midanik, the first concentration camp we are visiting here in Poland. As we arrived at the camp a sense of panic
went through my body. We got off the bus and the crisp cold wind went right
through me. The size of this place, WOW!
Midanik
Every inch is gated off by what used
to be electric barb wired fences. Every 100m there was a black wooden
watchtower. Long black buildings. Cold
cement floors. Terror. Fear. The first building we went into was where people
would have arrived. Their head would have been shaved, they would be given a
uniform and a number, and either lead right to showers or left to gas chambers.
As I walked in my mind went blank. I saw a Star of David carved into the walls
and it all felt real that huge number of 6,000,000 became very real.
The Star of David carved into the wall
The gas
chamber walls were covered in blue slime stains.
Gas chamber
Each building was so well
designed. Each room served a purpose. Next we walk passed row upon row of black
long cabins. Many have been turned into museum exhibits. One of the rooms was
filled with shoes. To think about the people who wore them? Who were they? What
was their name? We entered the building where people slept. Each bed was a
three layer wooden bunk bed. There were maybe 70 beds in the room and each room
held 1000 people or more. We were told that three people or more would have to
share a bed. Some people had to sleep on
the floor because there was no room.
The beds
The final room we went in to was the gas
chamber and crematorium. I went in following my class reading all the facts
along the walls. I was able to enter this building and exit on the other side.
The last place we went to was the memorial. As I walked up the stairs I did not
know what to expect. When I reached the top I was taken aback by huge pile of
ashes. This was not even a quarter of the people killed at Midanik. The number
6,00,000 is starting to mean something. We concluded with a small ceremony. We
said the mourners kadish and again sang Hatikvah. Each service we got louder
and louder gaining more pride in Israel.
I think what upset
me the most is that Midanik is it is in the middle of the city. Literally in
people’s backyards, on their drive to work, in the school yard there is a
concentration camp.
Midanik in relation to the city
People said back then they did not know the Holocaust was
taking place. That is 100% a lie. It is located in the middle of the city. I
was a little surprised with my reaction to what I saw today. When I watch a
Holocaust movie I get very upset, scared, and nervous. But today I did not cry.
I was physically there and I was so confused how this horrible event took
place. I felt like my mind went black and stole my emotion. I felt proud. Proud
to be Jewish. Proud to have been given this opportunity at such a young age
with the guarantee that I will be going on a bus leaving in just four hours.
Today I really learned the importance of education and knowing about history.
It’s one thing to learn, but another to do. It is every person’s responsibility
to know and understand history. Today I decided to live each day to the
fullest, make my own choices because others could not.
We then got onto
the buses and our teachers handed out notes. We all got a note from our
parents. I opened my note and cried. Not because I have not talked to my
parents but because this small gesture, to give us a piece of home. When others
were ripped from their family’s years ago, many never got to see their families
ever again. Avi and I cried.
We had a four hour
bus ride to Krakow where we will stay the night.
Wednesday March 26, 2014
Today wake up was at 8:00 A.M. It was a more relaxing chill
day. After breakfast we loaded the buses
and went to an old castle that looked like it was out of a movie set. We went
to the old town square where we had free time. Gali and I got Pizza for 9
zloties = 5 bucks. Then David Soloman told us to go have the “best” Hot
Chocolate of our lives. I got it… It was disgusting. I love chocolate more then
the next person but this was legit melted chocolate in a cup. It reminded me of
the scene in twilight when Bella drinks blood and her teeth turn black because
it is so thick. That is what happened YUCK! That was the worst hot chocolate I
have ever had but I did have the best cupcake of my life! I have been to
Carlos’ bakery in New Jersey, and DC Cup Cakes in Washington but Cupcake Corner
in Poland is hands down the best!
All of EIE met up
again and learned about what the Jewish life in Krakow used to be like. We went
into different style temples. Then we went to the JCC of Krakow to learn about
the Jewish community in Poland today. There are about 500 members! This JCC was
started up by Prince Charles who wanted to bring the Jewish life in Poland
back. Following the JCC visit the whole group did the walk from what used to be
Jewish community to the ghetto and train station where the people waited to be
transferred. Today there is an art piece with a bunch of different sized
chairs. People in my class were upset that people in the community today were
sitting on the chair. This reminded me of our discussion from earlier in the
week - when is it okay for the community to move on? I really don’t think there
is ever a time to move on but eventually things do and someone will always be
unhappy with the result. All that’s left of the Krakow Ghetto is one wall. This
wall is different from the one in Warsaw, which was brick. This one was shaped
like cemetery headstone to foreshadow death.
Again and again the number 6,000,000 pops into my mind.
Our finale stop of
the day was to Shindler’s factory. We saw the original gate and in the windows
are photos of all the workers. We did not go inside the factory because today
it has been turned into a museum not focusing on Shindler himself but more on
the history of WW2. We sat outside the
factory and David Solomon told us a story about a woman who was able to smuggle
children out and have Polish families adopt them. After the war she was able to
save over 2000 children and if the parents were still alive reunited the
families.
After a more relaxing day we got back onto the bus went for
dinner and then back to the hotel.
Thursday March 27, 2014
This morning we woke
up at 6:15. We got on the buses by 7:30 and headed to Ashwitz Burkinow. When we
arrived the first thing I noticed was how the train tracks went right through
the gate and divided the camp in half going all the way to the very end. The
place is huge. WAY bigger than Midanik.
Ashwitz Burkinow
We first went into the washrooms, a
place where everyone wants privacy. It is holes carved into the cement blocks
lined up in rows. I could only imagine the smell.
The washrooms
We then walked for 10 minutes
passing row upon row of smashed down buildings with only the chimneys left
standing.
What really bothered me was how the Nazis tried to destroy everything
by smashing down the buildings but we can not have back what they destroyed of
ours. We reached a pond with a
gravestone saying “in these water lays the ashes of the lives lost”. We had
been given a yartseit candle and I decide to light my candles there.
We then learned
about the Zunder commander who were Jews chosen to live separately from other
the Jews. They had the job of taking out the dead bodies from the gas chambers,
burning them and putting the ashes into the water. Every four months these
people were killed and a new group was brought in because the Nazi could not
risk these people telling other people what was actually going on. We learned
about one group of Zunder commanders who bombed one of the gas chambers and by
doing this they saved 2000 people a day. Of all the stories I heard this week
this one in particular really stuck into my mind because these people who
already had nothing and had seen things in life that can never be erased risked
their lives to save others.
Next we went into
the room where the people would have slept.
The Beds
Any way the Nazis could dehumanize
the Jews, they did. The room was three levels of wooden bunk beds going wall to
wall. The Jews were herded in like cows. They had to decide whether to sleep on
the top bunk and freeze and get hypothermia or sleep on the bottom bed where
people’s bodily fluids would drip onto them all night because of constant diarhea.
We also went into the building where the Jews would have been brought the
moment they arrived. In the last room were photographs of people.
These were
photos that families packed in their suitcases and the Nazis took from them. seeing
all the photos lined up put faces to the huge number of 6,00,000. The number is no longer just a number to me
they were all people with family’s, friends, playing with toys, dancing. The
photo below
really caught my eye.
I know in such hard times it’s
always good to laugh and that what this photo made me do. I will bring their
smiling faces with me home to Israel!
We were then given
time to write our thoughts down and rest taking in everything we just saw. Some
people in my group were laying down to write. A Polish security guard came over
to us yelling at us to get up because we are not at a beach. I jumped out of my
skin. I got very uncomfortable. I don’t like the fact that you can hear the
train from inside the camp. We had a small service again reciting the mourners
kadish and singing Hatikvah. I loved how throughout this week people who
brought Israeli flags wrapped themselves
in it like a blanket. I have never felt so proud to be Jewish!
This was a very
long and hard day. After lunch we went to Ashwitz One. This camp has been
turned into a museum therefore we did not get lead around by our teachers but
by a tour guide. This camp did not have the same styles as the others. It felt
more like a university campus. I felt because it has been turned into a museum
it has lost the message and its meaning. All the interior of the buildings have
been redone and painted. One of the buildings has displays of shoes, glasses,
pots and pans and brushes. The one display that shocked me the most was hair.
Before this I never really understood why the Nazis shaved everyone’s heads. I thought it was a
way to dehumanize them, which it was. But the Nazi also sold the hair to help
profit the war and the hair was often used in pillows as stuffing. My stomach
dropped.
The room that
appealed to me the most was a room with drawings from kids. These drawing were
found and recreated on this wall by an artist. At the beginning the drawings
are happy and as you walked along the room the shadows of guns, a dark feeling
went through all the photos. That room will always stay with me because kids
are the best stories tellers.
After a very long
day we loaded the buses and went to a temple. At the temple we had services and
a real sense of community was in the air. This Poland trip has bought us all so
close together. We all sang and danced to Jewish music and it was a song
session I will never forget. After dinner at around 8:00 we headed for the
airport and by midnight we were up in the air!
